Not Hopeless
by halfpipez
Summary: Tenten and Neji have been dating secretly for a while now, but she knows that his family would never approve of her being his wife. They'd prefer someone who can cook and clean over a girl who can shoot target perfectly and prove it's not a fluke.


"What 'especially Ino'?" Sakura asked.

Tenten shushed her, putting a finger to her lips. "I just meant that I don't want her to know. It's already hard enough keeping our relationship a secret when we live in a village full of ninja!"

Sakura nodded in understanding. "Oh, so you don't want this spreading like wildfire. I get it." She mimicked a zipper to her mouth. "I won't tell a soul then, not even Ino." She promised. "Sorry I barged in on you guys."

Tenten shook her head. "Stop apologizing, I know it was an accident, and it's not like we were doing anything…"

"Alright." Sakura said, still unsure about her accidental barging in on Tenten and Neji. "But I really am sorry. If I didn't, you probably wouldn't be worrying right now!"

"What's done is done." Tenten sighed, lowering her voice for the next part, "This isn't the worst thing about it."

Sakura raised an eyebrow, but was shooed out of the room instead. Tenten obviously didn't want to talk about it. When she turned back to Neji, she found him right in front of her. "I have to go." He said simply, walking out as well. "Meet us for training later. Lee mentioned wanting to practice his chakra control, since that's his weakness."

Tenten nodded. "Yeah, later Neji."

Now she was left in the classroom by herself, wondering what would happen next. After all, it wasn't like they had meant to keep their dating a secret. Tenten had the full intention of telling her parents, and she was almost certain that Neji did too. Unfortunately, he didn't have that same open idea. He'd made it clear many times that if his family ever found out, they'd scold him for not choosing a girl of higher status, or one that could stay home and tend to the house. At first, Tenten was offended by this, though she came to bitter terms with it. It was almost like he was implying that she wasn't wife material – which she could admit wasn't entirely untrue – but still. It felt like an insult.

Tenten sat on top of one of the desks and rubbed her arm as she stared at the wooden floorboards. She was an extremely adept ninja, her weaponry skills were of the elite status. She had worked hard to get a name for herself in Konoha. But just because she couldn't cook and clean like the rest of the village girls, she couldn't have one thing that was important to her. Just because she stood up for what she believed in, she would be rejected by the Hyuga family.

That thought alone made her want to put some dents in a target board.

It's not like she had a nice and sensitive sensei either. Tenten seriously doubted whether Gai-sensei had ever had someone crush over him, never mind him having actually gone on a legitimate date. She envied Hinata for having the ever feminine and supportive Kurenai as a sensei. If that were the case, she'd have someone to ask who wasn't totally crazy.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Tenten was surprised she hadn't heard the door open. It was Iruka. It made sense, after all, this was his classroom.

Tenten smiled sheepishly at him. "I'm just thinking about stuff. Nothing much." She said simply, leaning back on her hands. "Though, I was just about to leave for a training session with Neji and Lee."

"I won't hold you back from it then. Nice to see my academy students grow up into skilled ninja." Iruka smiled, going to his desk and putting the stack of papers he held down into one of the drawers. "Especially the girls. After all, they wouldn't have been able to become ninja about a century ago!"

"I'm glad someone agrees with me then." Tenten said, sliding off the desk.

"What do you mean?" Iruka asked curiously, sitting down as he opened up a black binder.

"It seems like my marriage prospects are going down the drain because people want a wife that can cook and clean, not give them a good spar." Tenten sighed. "But whatever. I can live with that."

She opened the door to leave but was stopped by a question. "How old are you now, Tenten?"

"I'm twenty."

Iruka nodded thoughtfully. "Ah, I see why you're worried then. Don't worry. Just because you're a better ninja than a housewife, it doesn't mean that the idea of marriage is completely gone. After all, in Asuma's memory, he and Kurenai had planned to get married and they were both elite ninja." He explained. "And from the gossip I heard Ino spreading around, Shikamaru gave Temari from Suna a promise ring. It's not hopeless."

Tenten suddenly felt a lot better about her situation. "Thanks a lot, Iruka-sensei. I guess I'll just have to wait it out a bit." She waved as she left the room, smiling as she walked down the familiar corridors.

Suddenly, the entire Neji fiasco didn't seem like such a fiasco.

* * *

Hey all who have read this fic :D I hope you liked it, since it's my first time writing this couple - and I won't say whether I necessarily like this couple because I tend to write for the sake of the ever-inspiring words of 'what if?'. Seriously, I wrote a Ino/Shino fic (on my profile if you're interested :D) because I felt like seeing what would happen if that was possible!! Anyways, hope you enjoyed!!!

I love people who review :P


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